Return to the Park
by pretzelsnake
Summary: After Kido was made a fool in the Haunted House, she wants to redeem herself. Kano and Shintaro come with her to the Haunted House, but one thing: She can not have her headphones this time. (basically ShinKido/KanoKido)


"Danchou can't even breathe without her headphones~"

_Here we go again_, Kido thought to herself. Once again Kano the cat-boy was teasing her. This time he was joking about when they were in the Haunted House and she cried when Shintaro took her headphones away. She and Kano were sitting in the living room with the NEET, Konoha, and Mary. Shintaro chuckled lightly at Kano's joke but was quickly silenced by a glare from Kido. She and Kano were sitting on the couch. Konoha was on the edge of the couch, and Shintaro was lying on the floor next to the coffee table.

Kido elbowed Kano in the rib cage, earning a squeal of pain from the drama queen. "At least try to respect me, idiot." Mary giggled to herself, she was sitting on the floor reading…something. Kido didn't really want to look because she already had an idea of what it was. She noticed Konoha lean over from his spot and peek, tilting his head as if he was curious. Mary quickly swatted him away with a little hiss.

"I was simply stating a fact!" Kano defended himself with his usual twisted logic and sing-song tone. Kido connected her eyes with Mary's and they rolled them in unison. She would never understand the logic of Kano - no, she would never understand the logic of men. Well, in this case, it was more of a boy..

"Then allow me to state a fact. Your lying habits have stunted your growth!" Kido flicked his forehead and muttered, "Besides, I could go back to that place any time without my headphones."

Kano raised his eyebrow as a smile snaked across his face. "Oh, really~?"

As soon as the blond spoke Kido knew she had made a mistake by opening her mouth. He could take anything as a challenge even if it had nothing to do with him.

"If that's true, then when why don't we go back? That way you can redeem yourself and earn back your dignity~" Kano stood up. "Let's go!" He held out his hand.

Kido suddenly felt very nervous. She hadn't thought that Kano would take the comment so seriously, though it was her fault for underestimating him in the first place.

"I want a third person to come with us, just so you can't cheat." Kido narrowed her eyes at Kano. She wanted to make sure that he did not deceive something horrifying that was directed at her fears (Kano and Seto were the only members of the Dan who knew them).

Kano sighed. "It hurts that you don't trust me, Danchou~" He dramatically raised his hand to his forehead, as if he was in despair. He peeked at her with one eye. "Who are we going to take?"

Kido glanced at the people around her. Mary was too faint at heart for such a thing, and Konoha…just no. She extended her finger at the boy with black hair and a red jersey. "Kisaragi, you're coming with us."

Shintaro let out a groan of complaint. It annoyed Kido and she pondered whether to hit him or not, but he wasn't the deceiver so she decided against it.

Kido stood up and dragged the NEET to his feet. Afterwards, she looked at Mary, asking, "Do you think you can handle yourself?" Even though Momo, Konoha, and Hibiya would still be in the house while they where gone, Mary was actually very good at keeping peace with everyone (and if words did not work she could just freeze them).

"Yep! Besides, Seto should be home soon anyways!" Mary smiled and went back to reading.

The three teenagers walked into town to the Haunted House (after stopping once for Shintaro's soda break). Kido rubbed her fingers against the ipod in her pocket. Kano noticed and smirked.

"Ahh~ Danchou, you can't have your headphones in, remember~?" Kido mumbled curses at him under her breath and she gave him the ipod wrapped in ear buds.

The blond boy bowed and gestured to the door of the Haunted House. "Ladies first~"

Kido gulped and bit the inside of her cheek to keep her expression stoic. "Whatever," she said lazily.

She stepped into the dimly lit place, already feeling her heartbeat quicken. Shintaro and Kano followed her into the building and looked around.

"This place isn't too bad, Kido.." Shintaro spoke reassuringly without making eye contact. Kido looked at him quizzically. He wasn't really a mean person, but he wasn't the nicest - at least, not from what she had seen. He was blunt very dull most of the time.

"Well, it isn't very good, either!" She didn't mean to come across so harsh, but it was obvious she did when Shintaro flinched at her words. Come to think of it, Shintaro barely spoke to her at all, and every time she had spoken to him it was negative.

"Sorry about tha-" Kido's apology was cut off by a blood-curdling shriek erupting from a fake skeleton that dropped down from the ceiling.

Kido opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Her face was white and she stumbled backward into some fake spider webs (which had fake spiders in them).

Both Kano and Shintaro dashed to her rescue only to be swatted away with weak punches. She let out a feeble cry as they both fought to drag her out of the corner. Kano was trying his best not to laugh but once he saw her tears his expression changed. Shintaro's eyes were wide and laced with concern.

Kido pulled her knees to her face to cover up her embarrassment. Why did she get so scared when they came to these places? Fool, a leader like you should be stronger! she scolded herself in her head. Her cheeks were burning red with regret and her eyes were stinging from the tears.

After a little while she looked up at the two crouching next to her. Shintaro looked mortified.

"Are you okay, Kido? Do you want to leave now?" Shintaro looked at Kano, malice in his eyes. "Why did you make her do this? She obviously didn't want to in the first place!" He stood up and took a step toward Kano, his hands balled into fists.

Before the blond could respond to the suddenly hostile NEET, Kido stood up wiping her eyes. "I'm fine, Shintaro." Even though her voice was calm her face looked like a child's. Her eyes were watery with cheeks bright red.

Both the NEET and Kano blushed a bit and looked down, both ashamed at their actions.

"I said that I would finish this, so I will." Kido looked at them with a determined face. She could finish this. She might practically piss herself in the process, but she could do it.

"I believe you.." Shintaro tossed her a lopsided smile that flattered her a bit.

Kano noticed the pink across her cheeks and shot a glare in his direction. "I always knew Danchou could do it." Instead of his normal carefree voice his tone lingered with seriousness.

Kido rolled her eyes and walked past them. They had no reason to fight right now, so why were they? It seemed that ever since she had broken down the air was a bit more tense.

Kido glanced at her surroundings. They were halfway through the house from what she could remember from before. There was a fake rotting corpse in the corner that made her shutter. When she scanned the hallway to her left, she sighed. Of course there were doors, and behind each door was a new horror. But there was also a chance that behind one of those doors was freedom to the outside world.

The greenette grabbed the boys and started down the hall, stopping in front of the first door and opening it. She kept her eyes shut when she did so and knew not to look whenever she heard the others make startled sounds. She closed the door. Marching past them she went for the second one, only for the door knob to be grabbed by Shintaro.

"How about I check for you?" He was speaking to her once again without even looking at her.

"Sure, thanks…" Honestly, Kido was rather happy that he had volunteered for the job. She turned away so she didn't have to see. Just as she had done so, a picture on the wall in front of her had appeared and had the bloody face of a little girl.

Kido screamed like a little girl.

She didn't know what she did, but the next thing she knew the teenager found herself doing was clinging to the NEET. The little girl looked like her - like her face was melted and deformed. Kido buried her head into his chest, shaking it as if trying to wipe away the memory.

She felt him hesitate, but he returned the hug. It was not a hug someone would expect him to give - cold and half assed. It was warm and welcoming.

After a few minutes, Kido pulled away, just in time to see Kano looking away with a sour expression. She couldn't tell why he seemed so grumpy. He'd gotten what he wanted - to see Kido scream.

Shintaro helped her to her feet and the three of them continued on their way.

As they were nearing the end of Haunted House, Kido set off an other booby trap. She stepped onto a wooden board, and once it creaked, a murder of (fake) rotting dead crows fell from a trap door in the ceiling above.

Kido screamed, feeling her legs move all an their own as she tackled Kano. "Make it stop!" she cried pitifully. Kano sighed with a gentle smile on his face.

"Don't worry, Danchou, Kano will protect you like every raining night." Kido hid her face in her hands, blushing. Whenever there was a thunderstorm, Kido would sleep with Kano because she was so scared. Nothing ever happened, of course. She just wanted to feel safe, and she did with him.

Shintaro's gaze was burning a hole in the back of Kano's head. Kido could tell because she was looking over Kano's shoulder and saw him.

She quickly let go of Kano, embarrassed. The NEET must've thought of something inappropriate when Kano had said that.

"Can we leave now? I'm sick of making a fool out of myself." Kido regained her authority and continued her march, watching her steps this time.

—

"Finally, we're out of that wretched place!" Kido took in a gulp of fresh air as they exited the park where the Haunted House was located.

"Sorry you had to go through that, Kido." Shintaro scratched the back of his head. "You really didn't have to do that, in my opinion. I think you are a great leader.." The NEET's voice faded out.

"You're just trying to get on her good side, kiss up," Kano snorted.

"Oh, please! At least I'm respectful to her, you damned cat!" Shintaro retorted with a hiss.

Kido was surprised by the two's outburst. All she had said was that she was happy to be out of that miserable place.

"You two are acting like children! I expect that from Kano, but Kisaragi? You at least keep your mouth shut when Kano says something…" Kido huffed to herself. Maybe the two were fighting over something, but what?


End file.
